Folding machine for soft goods

ABSTRACT

A folding apparatus for the multiple folding of soft goods comprising a pair of upper folding plate members operated in a direction opposite to each other in a horizontal plane and a plane transverse to the horizontal plane, a pair of transverse folding arms arranged below the pair of upper plate members operated in a direction opposite to each other, a pair of longitudinal side folding arms arranged at a different plane with respect to each other between the folding plate members and the transverse folding arms and being operated in a direction opposite to each other, a transverse folding plate arranged in the region lying between the transverse folding arms and being operated to be insertable into the space between the pair of transverse folding arms pressing the transverse folding plates are pressed onto a bearing surface, the longitudinal side folding arms, the upper folding plate members are arranged to form a first folding group while the transverse folding plates and said transverse folding arms are arranged for forming a second folding group, and an auxiliary fold supporting plate movable in a predetermined cycle between an operating and a rest position for supporting an article prefolded by the first group and transferring it to the second group.

United States Patent [191 Arbter Nov. 4-, 11975 FOLDING MACHINE FOR SOFTGOODS [76] Inventor: Conrad Arbter, Mittelweg 1 1/10,

Saal an der Saale, Germany [22] Filed: Aug. 23, 1973 [21] Appl. No.:391,168

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 5, 1972 Germany 2243594 52us. (:1. 270/84 [51] Int. (11. B651! 45/18 [58] Field of Search 270/62,66, 67, 83, 84-85; 223/37-38, 29, 30-32, 33

Primary ExaminerRobert W. Michell Assistant Examiner-A. Heinz Attorney,Agent, or FirmErnest F. Marmorek [57] ABSTRACT A folding apparatus forthe multiple folding of soft goods comprising a pair of upper foldingplate members operated in a direction opposite to each other in ahorizontal plane and a plane transverse to the horizontal plane, a pairof transverse folding arms arranged below the pair of upper platemembers operated in a direction opposite to each other, a pair oflongitudinal side folding arms arranged at a different plane withrespect to each other between the folding plate members and thetransverse folding arms and being operated in a direction opposite toeach other, a transverse folding plate arranged in the region lyingbetween the transverse folding arms and being operated to be insertableinto the space between the pair of transverse folding arms pressing thetransverse folding plates are pressed onto a bearing surface, thelongitudinal side folding arms, the upper folding plate members arearranged to form a first folding group while the transverse foldingplates and said transverse folding arms are arranged for forming asecond folding group, and an auxiliary fold supporting plate movable ina predetermined cycle between an operating and a rest position forsupporting an article prefolded by the first group and transferring itto the second group.

1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures US. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet 1 of 33,917,253

U.S. Patant NOV.4, 1975 Sheet3 0f3 3,917,253

FOLDING MACHINE FOR SOFT GOODS FIELD OF THE INVENTION The presentinvention relates in general to folding machines for soft goods, andmore particularly it relates to a folding machine capable of performinga plurality of folding operations on soft textile goods and which isprovided with a plurality of folding members which are arranged oneafter the other and operating in a predetermined operating cycle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION For the folding of underwear there areseveral folding apparatus known in which the article undergoing thefolding operation remains stationary during the entire foldingoperation. This means that the machine performs only pure foldingmovements. In such machines, the article undergoing the folding isplaced on a supporting surface and by folding over the two end or frontedges and the two longitudinal side edges, it is brought to its finalfolded shape. Such folding apparatus are provided with so-called foldingflaps, each of which performs a pivoting movement about an axis lyingparallel with respect to the fold which is to be performed. The secondfolding flap which becomes operative after the first folding flap, canstart its operating movement only when the first folding flap has beenreturned into its inoperative or initial position. The operating cycleof such folding apparatus is, consequently, relatively large and, it ispractically represented by the sum of the individual operating times ofthe individual folding steps. In

this respect reference should be had to German DAS After recognizing theabove disadvantages, there became proposed a folding machine capable ofperforming multi-folding steps on soft folded articles which has aplurality of longitudinal and transverse folding pushers or members andwhich are operated in a predetermined operating cycle and cooperatingwith each other. More specifically, such proposed apparatus for softgoods comprises a pair of upper folding plate members operated in adirection opposite to each other in a horizontal plane and a planetransverse to the horizontal plane, a pair of transverse folding armsarranged below the pair of upper plate members operated in a directionopposite to each other, a pair of longitudinal side folding armsarranged at a different plane with respect to each other between thefolding plate members and the transverse folding arms and being operatedin a direction opposite to each other, a transverse folding platearranged in the region lying between the transverse folding arms andbeing operated to be insertable into the space between the pair oftransverse folding arms pressing the transverse folding plates arepressed onto a bearing surface, the longitudinal side folding arms, theupper folding plate members are arranged to form a first folding groupwhile the transverse folding plates and said transverse folding arms arearranged for forming a second folding group.

Reference should be had to my co-pending earlier applications Ser. No.318,241 filed Dec. 26, 1972, now US. Pat. No. 3,796,171 issued Mar. 12,1974 and Ser. No. 368,942 filed June 1 l 1973, the latter having beenabandoned in favor of a continuation application filed Oct. 15, 1974under Ser. No. 514,374.

With such a proposed arrangement of the longitudinal sides andtransverse fold pusher or members, as

well as their associated folding plate members and transverse foldingplates, it has been attained that the longitudinal side folding pusheror member operating on the two longitudinal sides of the article underfolding as well as the transverse fold members operating on the two endor front sides of the article can be operated simultaneously. However,the folding performance of such a proposed apparatus despite the factthat a high precision folding operation can be attained thereby, andapproximately doubles the output of older machines, still falls behindan optimum performance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an object of the presentinvention to provide a folding machine capable of performing amulti-folding operation which has a plurality of folding membersarranged one after another and operated in a predetermined operationcycle, in which the article undergoing the folding operation willperform only pure folding movements, and in which the possibility isprovided that the individual folding members can perform a foldingoperation simultaneously on articles which follow each other.

According to the present invention there is provided between the firstgroup of folding members performing the longitudinal folding operationand the second group of folding members performing the transversefolding operation, an auxiliary fold supporting plate which can beoperated in a predetermined cycle into and out of an operating position.

By the provision of the controllably operated auxiliary fold supportingplate, the article under folding can be placed in its fully extendedshape onto a stationary cover means arranged above the longitudinal foldperforming member, which when the auxiliary fold supporting plate is inits operating position and lying under an opening in the cover means,can support the article. Such auxiliary fold supporting plate becomes,at the end of the folding process performed by the first folding group,shortly returned into its inoperative position so that the middle regionof the prefolded article can be moved by a slight amount downward by thetransverse folding plate of the second folding group which movesdownwardly at that instant. As soon as the transverse folding plate ofthe second group of the folding members lies with its entire length onthe prefolded article, the second group of the folding members commencesits folding process and the auxiliary fold supporting plate can be movedagain into its operative position in order to receive the next-followingarticle and, thereby, to make the insertion time and part of theoperating time of the first group of thefolding members on thenext-following article overlap or extend into the operating interval ofthe second group of folding members.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will become more readilyapparent from the follwing description of a preferred embodiment thereofshown by way of example, in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view onto a schematic illustration of a foldingapparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along 11-" in FIG. 1 and in which thefolding members of the first folding group and the auxiliary foldsupporting plate are illustrated in their operating position; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along lines III-III in FIG. 1 and inwhich the folding members of the second folding group and the auxiliaryfold support plate are illustrated in their operating position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIGS. 13 illustrate anembodiment of the folding apparatus according to the present inventionand, more particularly, the dashed line in FIG. 1 illustrates thematerial 1 to be folded which will undergo a folding process parallelwith respect to its both longitudinal sides 2 and parallel with respectto its both front or smaller sides 3. The folding apparatus according tothe present invention itself includes a stand 4 on which a pair oflongitudinal side folding arms 5 and 6 are guided for movementtransversely over each other and are displaced in height with respect toeach other. The movement of the longitudinal side folding arms 5 and 6is effected by means of a pneumatic cylinder arrangement which is notillustrated in the drawing to avoid a crowding of the essential parts ofthe invention. Above the two longitudinal side folding arms 5 and 6there is arranged a cover means 7 which is illustrated by the dashedlines in FIG. 1 which serves as the bearing table or supporting tablefor the folding article 1 in its spread out state, that is, beforefolding. The cover 7 extends over the entire width and length of thelongitudinal side folding arms 5 and 6 and is provided with a recessedregion 7 the length of which is larger by a certain amount than thelength of the longitudinal folding arms 5 and 6 and the width of whichlarger by a certain amount than the distance between the twolongitudinal folding arms 5 and 6. In orderto aid the insertion of thefolding article 1 onto the cover means 7, there is provideda boss in theform of a guide strip 8 which is arranged with a certain distance withrespect to one of the longitudinal edges of the recessed region 7 Withthe two longitudinal side folding arms 5 and 6 an upper folding plate 9cooperates and is sub-divided into two folding plate members 10 and 11the maximum frontal distance between which substantially corresponds tothe length of the two longitudinal side folding arms 5 and 6. The twofolding plate members 10 and 11 of the upper folding plate 9 arejoumalled in the stand 4 at a certain height and in a longitudinallyslideable fashion and, in addition to their longitudinal movement theyare adapted additionally to perform a vertically directed movementduring or after their longitudinal movement for a purpose hereinafterdescribed. Their drive is also accomplished by means of a pneumaticcylinder which is not shown in the drawing.

Under the above-described upper or first group of folding meansincluding the folding means 5, 6, 9 the folding means of a secondfolding group are arranged. Such lower or second folding group includesa transverse folding plate 12 which is arranged for movement under thelongitudinal side folding arm 6 and parallel to the direction ofmovement thereof. The transverse folding plate 12 in addition to itsmovement in a horizontal plane is arranged also to perform a verticalmovement and, accordingly, at the end of its shoving movement which isits operating position, it performs a movement downwardly and verticallydirected for a purpose which will be described in more detailhereinafter. With the transverse plate 12 a pair of lower transversefolding arms 13 and 14 are in cooperation, the transverse folding arms13 and 14 being arranged vertically displaced with respect to each otherand, as it can be seen especially in FIG. 1 they are arranged betweenthe longitudinal side folding arms 5, 6 when they are in" their restposition, and also the transverse folding arms 13 and 14 are joumalledon the stand 4 in a slideable fashion. The lower transverse folding arms13 and 14, which are arranged at a level under the longitudinal sidefolding arms 5 and 6 and also under the folding plate members 10 and 11,are arranged for movement transversely with respect to their associatedlower; transverse folding plate 12 and are operated by a pneu- 0 maticcylinder arrangement not illustrated in the drawing.

Under the operating level or plane of the folding plate members 10, 11,however, above the plane of the transverse folding arms 13 and 14, anauxiliary fold supporting plate 15 is arranged which extends-over theentire lengthof the longitudinal side folding arms 5 and 6 and which isarranged for movement in a plane parallel to the plane of movement ofthe longitudinal side folding arms 5 and 6. The auxiliary foldsupporting plate 15 in its operating position covers the region of i thegood 1 which lies below the recessed region 7' of the cover 7 and coversthereby also both of the transverse folding arms 13 and 14. Theauxiliary fold suparms 5 and 6 and the length of which corresponds to.

the transverse folding length parameter E of the fold and the widthwhich corresponds to the length of the longitudinal fold parameter E ofthe readily folded article 1', there is provided a bearing surface 16for the goods on which the foldingoperation has been completed which, inthe illustrated embodiment, includes a plurality of closely arrangedconveyor bands 17. Such conveyor bands 17, as it can be seen in FIG. 2,are guided by a pair of guide rollers 18, 19 mounted in the stand 4, andtheir purpose is to bring the readily folded articles 1' into the regionof a stacking station 20. The a stacking station 20 is provided with astacking arm 21 which brings the folded goods on the stack from belowand up by means of carrying arms 22 which are pivotably joumalled onrods 23. To select out the rejects there is provided a shute 24 behindthe guide roller 19. The operation of the folding apparatus is asfollows: It is assumed that all the folding means of the foldingapparatus are in their initial or rest position and that the article 1to be folded is laid on the folding apparatus. The article 1 is on thecover means 7 and lined up along the guide strip 8. As it can be seen inFIG. 1 both longitudinal side folding arms 5 and 6 are in their restposition under the cover means 7, while the oppositely lying front edgesof both folding plate members 10 and 11 are displaced at a distance withrespect to each other which corresponds to the largest length L of thegood 1 to be folded. Both folding plate members 10 and 11 the width ofwhich correspond to the fold pa-v rameter E are in their initialposition, that is, somewhat sideways of the two frontal sides 3 of thegood 1 to be folded, and below the plane of the cover means 7.

The transverse folding plate 12, the width of which corresponds to thefold parameter E is in its initial posi- 5 tion and is below thelongitudinal side folding arm 6. The two transverse folding arms 13 and14 which cooperate with the transverse folding plate 12 are in theirinitial position in which the distance between their frontal edges issomewhat larger than the transverse fold parameter E They are at aposition under the level of the transverse folding plate 12. i

The auxiliary fold supporting plate 15 will not under these conditionsassume its inoperative position illustrated in FIG. 1 in which it islocated underneath the longitudinal side folding member 5, but it israther in its operating position in which it covers a surface areaformed by the two transverse fold members 13, 14 and also by the foldingparameters E and E From such initial position of the folding members, itfollows that the article under folding 1, will lie on the cover means 7with the regions of its longitudinal side 2. The middle region of thearticle 1, the width of which substantially corresponds to the foldingdimension E lies above the opening 7 of the cover means 7 and, as aresult, it sags down by a slight amount. This region ofthe article 1lies on the auxiliary fold supporting plate 15.

Next both folding plate members and 11 of the upper folding plate 9perform a movement toward each other and also downwardly thereafter.They are moving through the recessed region 7 of the cover means 7, andat the end of their movement they come to rest on the auxiliary foldsupporting plate 15. As a result, the region of the good 1 to be foldedwhich is lying above the recessed region 7 will be pressed onto theauxiliary fold supporting plate 15. The folding plate members 10 and 11which, as the result of the above operation, lie on the good 1 to befolded will assume their operating position in which their side edgesrunning parallel with the longitudinal side folding arms 5 6 and form afolding edge for the longitudinal side folding arms 5 and 6.

These will execute one after the other their operational movementdirected toward each other and, as a result, will perform the folding ofboth edge regions of the longitudinal sides 2 of the good 1 to be foldedabout the folding plate members 10, 11 which are now inserted into thegood 1. The upper folding plate 9 and both longitudinal side foldingarms 5 and 6 assume at the end of the abovedescribed folding process theposition illustrated in FIG. 2, in which the longitudinal side foldingarm 5 and both folding plate members 10 and 11 of the upper foldingplate 9 are within the initially folded good 1 while the longitudinalside folding arm 6 lies on the upper side of the good 1. The foldinggood 1 is folded up to now to the parameter E and lies with its entirelength on the auxiliary fold supporting plate 15.

Now both of the longitudinal side folding members 5 and 6 are returnedinto their inoperative initial position and also the auxiliary foldsupporting plate is returned into its inoperative position. The article1, as a result, will lie on the transverse folding members 13 and 14whereby its surface area defined by the width of the opening 7' of thecover means 7 and the distance between the front edges of the transversefolding members l3 and 14, will not be supported. The transverse foldingplate 12 performs a movement parallel to the direction of movement ofthe longitudinal side folding members 5 and 6 and enters the region ofthe article 1 and lies upon it in the region thereof lying between thefront edges of the transverse folding members 13 and 14. In the furtherportion of its operating cycle, the transverse folding plate 12 lies onthe article 1 and moves downwardly. As a result, the region of thearticle 1 which lies between the front edges of the transverse foldingmembers 13 and 14, which are still in their rest position, becomespressed downwardly and will come 6 to lie on the supporting surface 16located beneath the plane of the transverse folding members 13 and 14.

Now, the auxiliary fold supporting plate 15 will be returned again intoits operating position in which it covers the prefolded article 1 in aregion lying above the two transverse folding members 13 and 14. Bothtransverse folding arms 13 and 14 perform one after the other theiroperating movement directed transversely with respect to'the directionof movement of the lower transverse folding plate 12 and also towardeach other and, as a result, they shove the region of the two frontalsides 3 of the good 1 over the folding edges of the lower transversefolding plate 12. Simultaneously, the folding plate members 10 and 11 ofthe upper folding plate 9 become pulled out of the foldinggood 1 in adirection against their horizontal operating movement and are returnedin their initial position. At the end of the operating movement of thetransverse folding arms 13 and 14 the now finally folded good 1' willhave a fold parameter E wherein the transverse folding arms 13 and 14will assume the position illustrated in FIG. 3 in which the lowertransverse folding plate 12 and the transverse folding arm 14 are withinthe folded good 1 and the transverse folding arm 13 lies upon it.

While the transverse folding members 13 and 14 of the second group ofthe folding members perform their operating movement and the foldingplate members 10 and 11 of the first group of the folding means arereturned into their initial position, the next-following article 1 canbe placed onto the cover means 7, that is, onto the auxiliary foldsupporting plate 15 and smoothed out against the abutting or line-uprailing 8.

It can be seen that the auxiliary fold supporting plate 15 forms, byvirtue of its arrangement, a separating, intermediate position betweenthe individual groups of folding means and that the plate 15 at the endof the folding process as performed by the first group of the foldingmeans becomes returned for a short time into its inoperative position inorder to enable the transverse folding plate 12 of the second foldinggroup to transfer the article from the first to the second group offolding members and, thereby, to insure that the insertion time and aportion of the folding time of the first folding process of the firstgroup overlaps with the operating interval of the two transverse foldingmembers 13 and 14 of the second group of folding means.

After the transverse folding plate 12 and the two transverse foldingmembers 13 and 14 are withdrawn from the readily folded article 1', thedrive of the conveyor band 17 is turned on which will then deliver thearticle 1 to a stacking position 20. Here, the article 1' will be placedin its stacked position by a stacking member 21 carried by a carrying orsupporting arm 20 which, in order to perform this stacking position by astacking member 21, can be pivoted about a horizontal axle upwardly andreturned again into its initial position. In the meantime, thenext-following article 1 is folded by the first group of the foldingmeans into a prefolded state and after returning the auxiliary foldsupporting plate 15 into its inoperative position, the article will betransferred by the transverse folding plate 12, in a manner describedabove, into the region of the second group of folding members. After theauxiliary fold supporting plate 15 become returned again into itsoperating position, and while the second folding process is still inprogress on the first article 1, the next-following article l' can beinserted and prefolded.

In the above, the operation of the auxiliary fold supporting plate hasbeen described in connection with two groups of folding means in afolding apparatuslt can be seen from the above, however, that even ifthere are several groups of folding means, for example, three groupspresent, then between the first and the second folding groups and alsobetween the second and third folding groups an auxiliary fold supportingplate 15 can be provided and controlled accordingly as has beendescribed in connection with the auxiliary plate 15 being proviedbetween the two groups of folding means.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to theexact details of construction shown and described, for obviousmodifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tobe secured by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. A folding apparatus for the folding of soft goods comprising a pairof upper folding plate members, means for driving said folding platemembers to move in a direction opposite to each other in a horizontalplane and a plane transverse to said horizontal plane, a pair oftransverse folding arms vertically spaced below said pair of upperfolding plate members and having opposed folding edges, means fordriving said transverse folding arms to move in a direction opposite toeach other in a horizontal plane,,a pair of longitudinal, side foldingarms horizontally movable in different,

planes with respect to each other and vertically spaced between saidfolding plate members and said transverse folding arms, means fordriving said longitudinal side folding arms to move in a directionopposite to each other, a transverse folding plate arranged in a regionlying between said folding edges of the transverse folding arms, meansfor inserting said transverse folding plate into said region betweensaid pair of transverse folding arms and means for pressing saidtransverse folding plate onto a bearing surface, said longitudinal sidefolding arms and said upper folding plate members being arranged to forma first group of folding means while said transverse folding plate andsaid transverse folding arms are arranged to form a second group offolding means, an auxiliary fold supporting plate, and means for movingsaid folding support plate in a predetermined cycle between an operatingposition vertically spaced above a surface area formed by saidtransverse I folding arms, and a rest position vertically spaced belowsaid longitudinal side folding arms thereby sup porting a prefolded goodafter completion of the folding operation by said first group of foldingmeans and for transferring said good to said second group of fold-,

ing means.

1. A folding apparatus for the folding of soft goods comprising a pairof upper folding plate members, means for driving said folding platemembers to move in a direction opposite to each other in a horizontalplane and a plane transverse to said horizontal plane, a pair oftransverse folding arms vertically spaced below said pair of upperfolding plate members and having opposed folding edges, means fordriving said transverse folding arms to move in a direction opposite toeach other in a horizontal plane, a pair of longitudinal side foldingarms horizontally movable in different planes with respect to each otherand vertically spaced between said folding plate members and saidtransverse folding arms, means for driving said longitudinal sidefolding arms to move in a direction opposite to each other, a transversefolding plate arranged in a region lying between said folding edges ofthe transverse folding arms, means for inserting said transverse foldingplate into said region between said pair of transverse folding arms andmeans for pressing said transverse folding plate onto a bearing surface,said longitudinal side folding arms and said upper folding plate membersbeing arranged to form a first group of folding means while saidtransverse folding plate and said transverse folding arms are arrangedto form a second group of folding means, an auxiliary fold supportingplate, and means for moving said folding support plate in apredetermined cycle between an operating position vertically spacedabove a surface area formed by said transverse folding arms, and a restposition vertically spaced below said longitudinal side folding armsthereby supporting a prefolded good after completion of the foldingoperation by said first group of folding means and for transferring saidgood to said second group of folding means.